Sure, DJ LeMahieu may be considered the Yankees' MVP given his clutch hitting and the fact he leads the American League in hitting.

But third baseman Gio Urshela has been such a revelation that he, too, has garnered high praise.

"We wouldn't be in first place without him," outfielder Aaron Judge said, according to the New York Times' James Wagner, after the 27-year-old drove in two runs and scored the go-ahead run in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

Urshela's two-run single put the Yankees on the board in the second inning, but after Toronto tied the game in the top of the fifth, it was his baserunning and elusive slide that allowed New York to take the lead back.

Urshela, who went 2-for-4, hit an infield single to lead off the bottom of the fifth, advanced to second on Austin Romine's walk and reached third on LeMahieu's fielder's choice. With Judge at the plate, Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman threw a wild pitch, and Urshela took off.

The ball bounced off the backstop and went right back to catcher Danny Jansen, who ran toward the plate to try to tag Urshela. Urshela slid around Jansen's outstretched arms and maneuvered his left leg to avoid the tag and touch the plate.

Gio Urshela 3, Blue Jays 2.#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/wRwU7AV6mT
- YES Network (@YESNetwork) July 14, 2019

"When I was running toward the plate, I was like, 'I've got to do something to make it safe,'" Urshela said, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. "I was trying to sneak around the glove. The ball bounced quickly to the glove. I tried to make a good slide."

Home plate umpire Ryan Blakney initially called Urshela out, but manager Aaron Boone challenged and the play was reversed to make it a 3-2 game.

"Just a crazy good slide by Gio Urshela," Stroman said. "It was just one of those slides where he kind of avoided him and just slid his left leg in there. It was just one of those plays that in the moment it's hard, but Jano did a great job, just couldn't get the tag down."

Urshela was thrust into a starting role amid the Yankees' numerous early-season injuries. While they started the season with Didi Gregorius on the injured list, they quickly lost Troy Tulowitzki and Miguel Andujar.

In 167 major-league games prior to this season, he had a .225/.274/.315 batting line with eight home runs and nine RBIs.

But this year, he has been one of several Yankees to step up. He is slashing .302/.352/.461 with seven home runs and 41 RBIs through 74 games.

"Every time I go out there, it's very fun playing for this team," Urshela said. "Since Spring Training when I got here, it's really fun. It's really great being here."

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